This may turn out to be a very interesting game after the Kent/Bradley fracas. I hope they can put it behind them. It would be nice to see a statement from Kent to get his take on it.

For the record, my take on Bradley is that he just doesn't understand Kent even after almost a full season. Bonds didn't get him either. The guy just WANTS TO WIN. It's not about personal records.

In a recent interview, Kent even said that he hardly liked playing baseball, but since he does, he goes at it 100% and wants to win. He felt Bradley could score, and it was the potential winning run.

Milton needs to understand that. Kent has fired off at plenty of Dodgers this season I'm sure.

Fun line up today. No Kent, no Choi...

SS Izzy
3B Robles
CF Bradley
1B Saenz
LF Werth
2B Perez
C Phillips
RF Repko
P Lowe

vs

CF Pierre
2B Easley
LF Cabrera
1B Delgado
RF Conine
C LoDuca
3B Lowell
SS Gonzalez
P Valdez

I'm relying on the almighty gameday, I somehow doubt we're facing a pitcher who pitched 4 innings yesterday. Assuming it's actually Vargas, he gets a very easy 7-8-9-1 in the line up

Random Dodger game callback

August 21, 1960

Although they were the defending World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers had little to play for except third place on this Sunday in St. Louis and the Cardinals came out ahead as Ernie Broglio and Lindy McDaniel combined to shut out the Dodgers 2-0 before 21, 693 at Busch Stadium. The loss dropped the Dodgers to 62-52 and 9 games behind first place Pittsburgh, but the Cardinals were able to move a game ahead of the Dodgers for third place.

The game started out as a pitchers duel between Broglio and Sandy Koufax. Dodger rookie outfielder Tommy Davis came in with a 20-game hitting streak, but the Cardinals ended it.

The Cardinals got the only run they needed in the fourth when Bob Nieman homered to right field off of Koufax. It was just Nieman's second home run of the season.

The Dodgers got Maury Wills to second base with one out in the sixth, but Wally Moon lined into a double play to shortstop Daryl Spencer.

In the eighth inning, John Roseboro led off with a double and McDaniel came into relieve Broglio. McDaniel fanned pinch hitter Irv Noren and then Wills, but gave up a single to Jim Gilliam. But Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood charged the ball and made a good throw home to gun down Roseboro. The Cardinals got an insurance run in the 8th on a double by Ken Boyer to score Julian Javier.

The 1959 Dodgers were one of the flukier World Series champion, so it would have been a tall order for the Dodgers to repeat in 1960. They finished 82-72 and in fourth place, 13 games behind Pittsburgh. One of the key performers from 1959, Charlie Neal, slumped from 19 home runs and 83 RBI in 1959 to 8 homers and 40 RBI in 1960 with just a .256 average.

Although Davis had the 20-game hitting streak, Frank Howard was the Dodger who won Rookie of the Year. Howard hit 23 home runs, but struck out 108 times with just 32 walks. First baseman Norm Larker finished second in the league in batting average at .323, just .002 behind Pittsburgh's Dick Groat.

Longtime Dodger stalwarts Duke Snider and Gil Hodges showed their age. Each man played in just 101 games. Snider batted .243 and Hodges hit .198. Carl Furillo played 8 games before being released in May. Sandy Amoros was traded to Detroit in May as well.

Don Drysdale led the pitching staff with a 15-14 record and a 2.84 ERA. Johnny Podres was 14-12 with a 3.08 ERA and Stan Williams was 14-10 with a 3.00 ERA. Koufax was 8-13 with a 3.91 ERA. On May 28, Koufax pitched 13 innings and struck out 15 Cubs, but he also walked 9 and lost the game.

Willie Davis made his Dodgers debut in September of 1960 and would become a fixture in the Dodgers outfield for the next 13 seasons.
Thanks to the New York Times, BaseballReference.com and Retrosheet

Did anyone see the play that started it all? What was the third base coach doing? Did Bradley stop after being waved in? Or was it strictly up to Milton to make the decision? Will I ever end a sentence with a period?

5
Marty, no TV yesterday.

Helps to add to the mystery.

KAYVMON saw the game, however. He might be able to chime in.

And actually, anybody with MLB.tv can watch it now... it was just blacked out live.

6
I'm sticking to my belief that any TV replays we see will have been staged and are part of a "Capricorn One" scenario.

2 - I would agree that Bradley probably doesn't understand Kent, and the reverse is probably also true.

Bob, stop arguing with yourself :)

And for some reason I thought Kent and Bradley got along great, for some reason seems like they should. This is just what the whole team needed right now...

What the over/under on Lowe? I'd thinking (er, wishing) six innings of shut-out? And if Tracy leaves him in he gets shelled in the 7th. The CEO of my company says he'd take Lowe back right now for the same money, no hard feelings... but then he went to the Boston post season. So I guess I can cut him a little slack.

Kent and Bradley both bust their ass and have a Gibson-like take-no-prisoners attitude on the field. So you would think they could get along. Their style of play is almost exactly the same.

uh, I just figured it out:
Kent = Heart
Bradley = Soul

Man we should not have made that LoDuca trade!

Any reports of rain? There is some sort of Saved by the Bell type show on KCOP instead of Dodger Dugout.

15 Cloudy but no rain. 40% chance for precipitation

http://www.weather.com/outlook/events/mlb/gameforecast/33056?eventid=149169&epc=be

2 - Without hearing anything more about the Kent/Bradley, thing, I think RIck's explanation sounds as plausible as any. I'd hope that if this was the case, things would be smoothed over relatively quickly.

At this point it doesn't seem "chemistry" is contributing much to this team's success or failure so I'm hoping if anything, it spurs some sort of positive energy from everybody.

Maybe JT has decided he'd give us Perez or Choi, but never both...

Summarizing the link in 16:

It's hot, damn hot. Which is fine if you're in the jungle, but it ain't no fun if you're with a lady.

Is Ismael Valdez really the starting pitcher for the Marlins today, or is Yahoo!Sports smoking crack?

I've seen Bradley make very admiring comments of Kent earlier in the season.

I think this will probably blow over. Kent isn't Mr. Congeniality, and Milton's issues are well known, but I don't them as guys who bear long-term grudges that might actually hurt the team. Grouches don't always bear grudges, and Milton's tumultuous emotions will sometimes dissipate his anger.

WWSH

Gameday said Valdez as well, but they finally changed it to Vargas

My guess is that the Kent-Milton thing has been festering for awhile. I think Kent has a hard time accepting mistakes from anyone (including himself) and although Milton, I believe, has a pretty good success rate in base stealing this year, my take is that he just is not a very good base runner. He's been picked off a few times and made various other mental errors out there.

Agree with those above though who say that these two ought to be able to get along because they both want to win so much.

Bradley is a seriously bad baserunner. Of course, badgering him about it is unlikely to help matters, which Kent should have realized. Bradley's not a baserunning dope intentionally.

Milton is lucky that pickoffs don't get recorded anywhere, because his SB% looks a lot better than it actually is.

Does it seem Izzy only leads off games with 1-1 pop ups? I know he rarely gets on, but it's always pop ups now...

Look at all those empty seats. Are the Marlins playing their home games in Montreal?

Take that, Kent.

Steiner and Lyons seem to be following the examples of the three monkeys of Nikko.

Saenz is batting third? Somebody at Gameday is having us on.

Izzy took more pitches than Bradley and Saenz combined. So much for making Vargas work so we get to the bullpen faster

Oh, my mistake, I missed the hit.

This game isn't on Direct TV, either. I'm sick of watching Gameday.

Glad to see Izturis's day of rest changed his lousy approach at the plate.

There are a lot of empty seats because it's freakin' hot in Miami today. And the Marlins never draw well to begin with.

The Marlins had 34,000 last night, which was a pretty big crowd for them. Tomorrow afternoon's game should be watched by invited guests.

Didn't Kent just have a day off a few days ago? These are important games and we don't have our best hitter in the lineup.

Do you think this is some sort of punishment?

The DBacks and Reds will be starting soon in Cincinnati. Brad Halsey vs. Eric Milton.

Milton continues his run at Bert Blyleven. He's 15 short of the single season home run record. He should be good for at least two home runs today against AZ pitching at home on a hot day.

35 - Tracy wants a veteran on the bench with Choi to make sure he doesn't get out of line.

Anybody notice how often Werth jumps back from inside pitches which are then called strikes.

He runs into walls all the time so I don't think it's a fear thing, but I've rarely seen any batter do it so often, and he did this even before Burnett hit him earlier this year.

35
Kent is likely sitting down because....

it's freakin' hot!

With Repko starting today, every Dodgers position player has started at least once in the last three days.

39 -
This is JT at his best, using all resources at his disposal. Now we just have to remind him that Phillips and Izzy have already used up their alloted at bats for 2005 and he should keep them out of the lineup for Aug and Sept because..............

it's freakin' hot!

Now that's smart baseball!

Heart & Soul with the Smallball!
Somewhere in this great land of ours, Plaschke and Joe Morgan swoon.

Dear Derek,

Please throw a strike.

Your friend (really),

SB

So much for the DP.

Well, he did induce a ground ball...

He's going to induce me to throw up pretty soon.

Seems like the other team takes the lead first in about 75% of our games this year.

Bob, do you have any stats on that?

Breathe, Marty... Breathing in the key...

Uh, breathing is the key... sorry.

43 - Call him by his birth name, Sean, please.

It's Big First Inning Day in the Majors.

The Nationals have scored 6 in the first in New York. They even got a 2-run double from Cristian Guzman. They're still batting and Kris Benson is through.

The Tigers have scored 7 in the first at home against Toronto.

I am joining Marty... YAAAKKK

Repko-Lowe-Izturis will help us catch up in the 3rd, I can feel it. In other news, Smoltz better pitch the best game he has ever pitched

There it goes...

50 LOL!! That got me but good!

47

No, I don't have stats on that, but that figure seems high to me.
The Dodgers don't come from behind as much as they did last year, so 75% would mean that they would have a Royals like record.

51 - Too bad this is the second inning, the Marlins want to play as well.

Phillips, 2nd in 2 games...something is very wrong

Of course, Phillips caught the ball twelve steps toward the mound; helps while double clutching...

Hey, Phillips can throw someone out on a pitch out. Let's see if he can do it from a crouch now.

I noticed the double clutch too. He hasn't shaken that habit.

53

You can worry about Smoltz, but the Padres have to worry about starting Brian Lawrence.

I think the Padres showed yesterday why I think they will hold on in the NL West. They actually have a bullpen that isn't competely terrible.

"Not completely terrible" is the gold standard in this division this year.

56 -

Feels like we do have a Royals-like record.

Looks like we have Bako helping both of our catchers

I duck out to shower and come back to us down 4-0. Thankfully the Marlins gave us 2 outs last inning, or it would've been worse.

The curse of Phillips starting continues. If he continues to be a regular 1B or every other day catcher, then we're going to have a very hard time catching up to the Padres

Even with a 3-0 count Izzy can't get on base

Against Izturis, every pitcher looks like Johan Santana.

It's only the 3rd inning. I think we still have time to fly the Jax starting lineup to Miami and substitute for the guys we have in there now.

My kid needs help this second with his Batman Begins video game. This of course takes priority over baseball, eating, breathing, etc.

70 -

At least you have a valid excuse for leaving the TV. My kids are all grown and out of the house. I have to continue watching this.

Maybe yesterday and today are like one of those God vs. the Devil bets. DePodesta's got 11 runs yesterday. Now Tracy's got to 'manufacture' at least 12 out of his today or else Mother Theresa goes to Hell.

Lowe has yet to give up a homer. There's no way he stands idly while Weaver is ahead of him

The Phillies are starting rookie Eude Brito today?

Does anyone know how to properly pronounce Eude?

Take that, Kent!

I used too many ? in 74.

I don't mean for my posts to look Matthew Lesko's suit.

I was gonna say "Curses! No TV again!" but after reading these comments and checking Yahoo's game description maybe it's just as well.

Funny moment in one of the late LLWS games yesterday; the pitcher threw an obvious spitter. The CF camera picked up his hand coming off the ball in his glove and deliberately putting his fingers to his mouth. Harold Reynolds cracked up, and the kid's father/pitching coach tried to keep from grinning while trying to settle the youngster down (he'd just given up a couple of hits).

Memo to Lowe: No more doubles to Alex Gonzalez down the line

78
Could a Little Leaguer throw hard enough and with enough break to make a spitter worthwhile?

The good news is Broxton may get some innings today

Sigh.
Hope for the split, everyone.

I cant believe I payed 4 bucks for this.

"I cant believe I payed 4 bucks for this."
----

Think how McCourt feels.

lol

Bullpen, please?

80 Well, one of those kids in an earlier six-inning game struck out 18, and the equivalent speeds adjusted for distance from pitcher's rubber to home plate were over 100mph.

6-0 Marlins. Given our lineup, this one's over.

The curse of Phillips/Izturis continues.

Steve was right the other day when he labeled Izturis: "The out monster that ate Dodger Stadium"..

Through 4 innings of work, Eric Milton has NOT given up a home run in Cincinnati. Two doubles, but no runs.

And Broxton gets another young MVP candidate. He has been inconsistent, but he is just destroying anyone that's good

This is an excellent place for Broxton - low-leverage situation, with plenty of innings to eat.

87
They can adjust the speed for the shorter distance, but the ball isn't travelling 100 mph. It's travelling much more slowly. And there's only so much distance for the ball to travel and have a chance to break.

But I've never thrown a spitter at Little League distance. Or from 60'6". Since I can barely crack 45 mph on the gun, I am not one to judge.

Don't give up on this game yet.

Two things to remember;
1) The heat/humidity factor could cause things to turn around very quickly and Vargas could fall apart from one minute to the next
2) Two of our best hitters (Kent/HSC) will be well rested when that happens

3-0 Reds on a Pena homerun.

Wily Mo homered, Cincy up 3-0

Just noticed. Why is Repko in there instead of Jose Cruz?

Cruz is a switch hitter, no?

95
You're living in the past, King.

96
Cruz is a switch hitter in the line of Jose Valentin.

He's 8 for 47 against lefties this year.

Too bad Broxton didn't start, although the lesser players figure to hit him, such as Conine

40 years ago today:

http://tinyurl.com/da9gq

Actually it's 39 years, 364 days ago.

93 I'm taking a different tack: Jim Tracy and Derek Lowe, thanks for giving me my Sunday back.

Now Encarnacion homers, 6-0 Cincy

Just got home. What an awful game. DLo sukcs (but we all know that).

If Tracy is giving Kent a "time out" cause he can't play well with others he is making a big mistake. You can't keep your best player out of the lineup. Like him or not, Kent has meant more to this team, 3x, than any other player, including MB. However, until I hear otherwise, I will assume there is another reason Kent is not playing.

I'm back... and wondering why. 6-0 Marlins and I'm here just in time to here our announcers worship at the Church of LoDuca, High Priest of Glue.

I'm thinking it's a nice day for a walk...

Just got home. What an awful game. DLo sukcs (but we all know that).

If Tracy is giving Kent a "time out" cause he can't play well with others he is making a big mistake. You can't keep your best player out of the lineup. Like him or not, Kent has meant more to this team, 3x, than any other player, including MB. However, until I hear otherwise, I will assume there is another reason Kent is not playing.

Uh... "hear" our announcers. I teach English. Really, I do...

3 homers for the Reds this inning.

woops. rookie mistake

Pujols isn't starting today for the Cardinals against Jason Schmidt and the Giants.

106 I'm hearing that Kent had a scheduled day off today. Heckuva coincidence, that.

Wow. That's the ugliest swing I've seen in awhile...

oh wow, how dominant was broxton!?!? holy snikes, he just made marlin hitters look like AA batters.

struck out muiggy, delgado and lo duca. lol.

I miss Tony Schrager.

Why PH with a .210 guy. Looks like JT has reached the same conclusion as the rest of us: this game is over curtsey of Lowe.

This is the first time I've seen the Dodgers since July. Why do they have to be losing?

Broxton probably should have batted right there.

Kent told his side of the story. He just lectured to the entire team about hustle and tradition, and Bradley took one of the examples as an attack. Tracy thinks the whole event is over

Izturis has hit the ball out of the infield two consecutive AB's. There is always hope!

Another out for Izturis. He hasnt reached base since Tuesday of last week.

#117: Kent's lecture seems to have worked wonders.

#118: Doesn't it seem like outfielders are playing Izturis halfway to the infield grass?

117 King where are you getting that from?

117 -

If that's really how it happened, it probably is pretty much over

120 "Seems? Nay, I know not seems!"

From the notes:

It had nothing to do with his Saturday night confrontation with Milton Bradley, but Kent was not in the starting lineup on Sunday, allowed to rest with a day game following a night game. Kent has produced 25.4 percent of the Dodgers' runs, ranking fifth in the Major Leagues. He was replaced at second base by Antonio Perez

113 - did they ever show how hard he was throwing? He had overpowering stuff, but I didn't see any gun postings.

I'd love to see him get a shot at the starting rotation next spring.

124. Thanks.

125I'd love to see him get a shot at the starting rotation next spring.

Especially if its Lowe's spot in the rotation.

121

http://tinyurl.com/759nu

So with this game getting out of hand, we can deal with more important questions.

Such as, has FSN put Carolyn Hughes back on the air?

I know that the vote on Steve Lyons is pretty much split, but I vote in favor. As far as I'm concerned, they can send Mo and Al out to do the Vero Beach games and bring in Lyons for radio every day.

If our line up was nothing but Bradley, we'd be winning right now

Take that, Kent!

129 -

Me thinks they should put Derek on the air and have Caroyln pitch five days from now

Nice job Milton.

If the Bradley-Kent situations is over, I'd say it was handled pretty well.

130 You get an "amen" from me on that one. I think Lyons will always suffer the reputation of a clown. If he had plastic surgery, changed his name and came back to the game tomorrow as a stranger, he'd be one of the better color commentators in the game.

No Shutout! There must not be a shutout.

128 Thanks for that. The signing of Jeff Kent has been terrific for this club. I think Bradley and Kent are fine. I will very interested to see how the local media follows up on this.

And Bradley hustles...

Boo-urns. Boo-urns.

132

EE, having fun with Rauseo over on BTF?
I believe he was the guy who labeled all sufferers of mental illnesses as weak. Since then, I've ignored him.

Cabrera pitches better from left field than Lowe does from the mound.

If it was about base running or hustle, I suspect the Bradley-Kent situation just reared its ugly head again. On Tivo, it doesn't look like MB was running that hard but it was stupid to send him.

Take that, Kent?

I met Matt Rauseo in Toronto at the SABR convention. Like many people, he's a lot different in person than online. He seemed nice enough to me.

Of course, Icaros is the same online as in person. He even tried to steal my wallet at the Dodger game we went to together!

Bradley getting thrown out at the place in a 6-0 game. How can you NOT score on a groundball to the OF with 2 outs from 2nd base?

Why did Saenz cut it off?

Is this a joke?

#146: I'm not sure Phillips would have made it to 3rd.

146

The ball was hit to a left fielder with a fairly good arm who got to charge it and get off a strong throw.

That dropped popup should get Perez a couple more weeks on the bench.

Well, make it 8 games in a row after today. In the last 8 games the Dodgers have lost every single game that Phillips started. They have only won games in which Saenz or Choi started. Buntermaker is throwing the season! fjt, Xei

128. TinyURL is blocked on my computer. Care to spell out the regular link?
thanks... vr, Xei

Way after the fact, I'm raising the flag. Have a great Sunday, folks! The weather seems nice but frankly, I'll trade seven straight days of fog for a seven-game winning streak.

153 http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050821&content_id=1178572&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

152

Correlation does not imply causation. In this case correlation implies demonization.

The Dodgers lost eight games in a row in June and I think Jeff Kent played in all of them.

With LoDuca's hamstring, do we send Phillips? I'd be interested to see by how many steps LoDuca gets the out

That's Phillips' second walk in his last 46 ABs, since July 26.

If the Dodgers were to make the playoffs, I cant see Repko making the 25 man.

The only guy he'd have a shot at beating out is Valentin. But I cant see Tracy keeping Repko over the veteran.

That Lo Duca play was all heart and soul.

But Phillips gets to move to second on the play!

They haven't changed the graphic on TV.

Choi is still on fire.

So that's why we didn't start Hee Seop. No way he would hit Vargas

Don't be fooled. Philliips didn't go from first to third on a single to left.

YAY No hustout Muwahahah Take that Vargas.!

Izzy just beats the DP for a run. Now Tracy will point to his clutch RBI and he'll lead off for the rest of the season

Repko's out broke Gameday.

i really wish phillips would go down with an injury and saenz tells tracys he can only play 1/2 times a week because he is so fat and old.

then maybe choi will play more.

#161: Steiner and Lyons didn't notice either, but I realized that was why Lo Duca was arguing with the umpire. The only reason I knew that rule was from the game I attended with you in Toronto :).

Repko fouled out to Lo Duca who slid in to the dugout. If you leave the field of play after making a catch, all runners on base move up one.

That's likely not easy to code.

Chopper gets an at bat against a LHP.

156. If Kent missed three of those eight games and the Dodgers won them all then I'd be more impressed with your example. I am just pointing out the facts, you can do with them whatever you want!
vr, Xei

Lo Duca is money on that slide-into-the-dugout catch.

155. Thanks SB. Nice to see Kent policing the clubhouse. Perhaps someone shoule be policing the managers office. vr, Xei

That Loduca catch looked alot like the one he made as a Dodger sliding into the dugout. Funny how for better or for worse the members of "The Trade" have figured prominatly in these three games, especially the first two.

I hate Derek Lowe

Hee Seop Choi's batting average is now .261, with an .818 OPS. Back to the bench tomorrow he goes.

Chopper has gotten his batting average up to a respectable .261. I hope he starts tomorrow, and Izturis is benched for good.

Perhaps Choi, Perez, Cruz, and Dessens can pick up bridge.

171. Just when you thought you had leardned all there was to know on DT, Bob delivers a new one. I didn't know that. At least I got something out of this game.

174. No kidding. It's his pattented move. Like sosa with the homerun hop - back when he use to be able to play baseball.

182
The same thing happened in April at Dodger Stadium when Counsell fell into the stands to catch a foul ball. Drew was sent to second base, although he would have made it anyway as he had tagged up on the play.

Make that two things I learned today. Didn't know the Fish had cheerleaders. Never thought I would say this about cheerleaders, but that's not right.

So, who else's screen went wide after the long link? Is it just happening on Mozilla, or other browsers also?

Doesn't Charlie Steiner remember seeing the J Force when the Yankees were in Toronto?

I'm sure Vargas is tiring but hits by Choi and Old Maid make you wonder what might have been.

187. Charley Steiner can't even remember who the dodgers are playing right now. He's called them the dolphins twice.

Somebody may have already mentioned this, but Vargas's gameday photo makes him look like a drag queen.

#187: Steiner mentioned that his definition of cheerleaders includes pom-poms.

Maybe, JT has correctly concluded that we have so little chance of winning when Lowe pitches he'll give the first string the day off.

Giants up 3-0 in St. Louis.

The Giants have taken a 3-0 lead. Schmidt vs Suppan and no Pujols. They have a very good chance to gain a game

192. I'm all for it.

Sorry, I didn't mean to say Choi and Old Maid are the first string. I meant to say the players who should be the first string. I have made a mess of this just ignore.

Watchinng today's game it is hard to believe the Dodgers have not been no-hit this year.

OPSing fascism! That's why Choi can't play!!

197. If Clemens starts next weekend you just might get your wish.

"So, who else's screen went wide after the long link? Is it just happening on Mozilla, or other browsers also?"
-------------

It happens on all browers, although IE is sometimes smart enough to split up the line.

That's why it's always a good idea to use TinyURL or, if you absolutely have to post a really long link, hit return in the middle of it.

Who will end up with a higher batting average, Cesar Izturis, currently at .259, or Hee Seop Choi, currently at .258?

Izturis. Only because he'll get the chance to bring his average up.

201 -
I could see you asking that question somewhere else, but on DT? Please.

Choi is actually at .261.

202-

The chance he gets to bring his average up will result in his average going down

Izzy will play tomorrow, for those who don't want him in there. He hits Willis well, 5-7 with a double. Small sample size I know, but this is Tracy. Bradley and Phillips each have a homer against him, so they're both starting. I'll be rooting for Edwin, but Phillips will prevent him from winning.

The Dodgers do hit Willis well though. .309/.377/.509

201 - Choi. If Tracy LOOKS at THAT stat, maybe Choi will actually start playing. At least against righties.

I was going to compile the record of the Dodgers for each player when he starts, but I realized that it would be an incredibly long and pointless exercise.

Players who have been in more games will have a worse record because they have a greater chance of starting in the Dodgers numerous losses. So guys like Kent, Izturis, and Phillips are going to have "poor" records. But guys like Perez, who don't start much and missed a lot of time may have better records.

And since the consensus here seems to be that Jason Phillips needs to be traded to the Vladivostok Vodkamakers, what's the point?

208 - I think DePo for President blog did something like that. Choi had a pretty bad record, IIRC.

What are Navarro's splits, left and right handed? Maybe he'll get a start tomorrow since Phillips caught all 9 innings today in the oppressive heat (are you listening JT?)

Ah, Vladivostok, the little-known terminus of the Siberian Railroad.

Get Plaschke on that train too.

I'm guessing the best record would belong to Valentin, since he was around for the 12-2 start and little else.

210 - Well, it was a fairly short game.

210 - No, Phillips will just start at 1st and Navarro will be behind the plate, so its even worse than you thought with Willis pitching.

I think Vladivostok just fired their broadcast team. Time for Mo and Al to audition.

Izzy, the leadoff king. The guy seems to abhor walks.

OFs are playing him at little league depth taking away most of his OF singles.

210 Navarro will start. However, Choi is a lefty and automatically cannot hit Willis. Saenz won't play tomorrow because Tracy will suddenly start his Don't Start Saenz 2 Straight Days approach. Phillips has a homer against Willis. Perez dropped the ball and failed to be clutch like Izturis (although his missed RBI was far more worthy). Thus Phillips starts at first.

217 - That sounds pretty accurate.

Edmonds was just ejected, so any chance the Cards had to win just vanished

Kent will start at first and Perez will play second again.

Phillips will rest up after catching 9 innings in the heat today.

Too bad we didn't get Beckett. Choi bats .600 against him.

Prediction - tomorrow is the day that Tracy will finally move Izzy to 8th in the order. Even he will realize that anything is better than what he has now.

222 -

I take that back. He'll probably wait until they next face a righty and then lead off with Robles

222 - I can live with Phillips starting 1st another day if Izzy is permanantly in the 8-spot.

Tomorrow's Dodger lineup:

1. Izturis SS (.714)
2. Robles 3B
3. Bradley CF
4. Kent 2B (.300)
5. Saenz 1B (.667)
6. Werth RF
7. Valentin LF
8. Navarro C
9. Jackson P

I noticed in yesterday's boxscore that Ron Villone got the rare double of a hold and a loss.

222 - No way. Izzy bats leadoff. Just like Dusty Baker whenever he started Goodwin, despite a microscopic OBP, he said, "Goody always bats leadoff."

BTW, Izzy flirting with the OPS Mendoza line of 600. He's at 620

Dodgers.com has Izturis at 615.

Jason Kendall is batting leadoff for Steve's new team and his OPS is a whopping 653.

Kendall has been outhomered by Izturis as well.

Kendall has been outhomered by Jason Johnson.

227 -

Goody always batted leadoff because in the rare set of circumstances when he actually got to first base, he usually stole second.

When we move Izzy to the 8 spot and he starts hitting better (less pressure), he won't be able to attempt steals because the pitcher will be right behind him. Two problems solved.

228 - 660 OPS according to espn.com for Kendall. .347 OBP which is higher than his slugging of .313. Pretty funny.

Abe sounds, well, completely incoherent right now.

Now that I think of it, Goodwin might be the only current or former major league leadoff hitter who would make Izzy look adequate.

Also, having an OBP higher than SLG is pretty hard to do. You basically have do draw a fair number of walks as an almost exclusive singles hitter.

#204: Good point. It's hard to keep track of which views ESPN updates on the fly and which are updated nightly. At first I was going to ask who would end up with the higer average between Phillips (.238) and Izturis (.258), but it would be pretty hard for Izturis' tailspin to last long enough to drop down to Phillipsian levels by the end of the year. I feel like Phillips will end up around .240 and Choi will end up around .260. The question is where in the .240 - .270 range Izturis will end up.

Actually, the little figure that appears in the Gameday app says that Izturis' OPS is actually 617.

But the difference between 615, 617, and 620 isn't all that much.

OT - Does wearing goggles make a player more of a "gamer"? ala Gagne, Phillips, Sanchez.

Maybe Choi should wear some goggles so he can get some more PT.

Randy Johnson has given up four homers to the White Sox in the fourth, three of them consecutive and the Sox lead 6-1.

So the Unit pitches poorly for people other than Fearing Blue and I.

236 - We've been over this.

Choi needs to change his name to "Jason Choizturis," grow facial hair, wear goggles, dirty his cap, and a few other things.

Well, clearly the "Choi" part of that name wouldn't help him much. I suggest "Jason Lo Iztobles."

Glad to see Edwin Jackson making a start tomorrow. It's going to be a tough matchup, going up against Willis. This is exactly what I was asking for a few days ago.
vr, Xei

Stubborn loyalty by Tracy for guys that have played for him for more than a year or look "scrappy" or are "gamers".

All Lo Duca needed when he was a dodger were goggles and he would have been the holiest of holies for Tracy.

"have been the holiest of holies for Tracy."
-------

Thanks, now I'm never going to be able to look at Tracy again without replaying that back massage scene from Pulp Fiction in my head.

240
Jackson was probably very intimidated by starting against Randy Johnson in Arizona too.

I'm sure Bob will be able to tell us the last time 2 black pitchers under the age of 24 started against each other.

Phillips sits, Dodgers offense rolls...
Phillips starts, Dodgers get shutout...
Choi starts, Dodgers offense rolls...
Phillips starts, Dodger offense stumbles.

I know this is a non scientific study and Bob won't let me present it at the next SABR convention, but the Dodgers are playing so much better (offensively) of late when Phillips sits and either Choi or Saenz starts at first base. This is exactly the type of small sample size study that Buntermaker loves. vr, Xei

Help! I'm being followed!!!
vr, Xei

244
Willis is still under 24?

If you're talking about African-American pitchers and not Dominicans, it's probably been a while.

Willis is 23 and yup, that's what I was talking about.

Tim Wallach. Doesn't seem to believe in working counts or taking BBs.

Vargas came into the game with 15 BBs in 28 IP. He gave up one in 9 IP.

I saw a lot of short ABs, and I remember earlier this year when Choi and Bradley would hardly walk and swing at a lot of first pitches.

I guess Robles hasn't been listening much because he probably doesn't understand a word Wallach is telling him. If Choi's English was worse, I bet he'd be hitting better.

I checked Willis's starts in 2003 and 2004 and the only other African-American pitcher he's matched up against is Darren Oliver and that was in his first major league start.

But on 9/27/2003 in San Francisco Edwin Jackson started against Jerome Williams.

"Tim Wallach. Doesn't seem to believe in working counts or taking BBs."
--------------

WTF? If anything, exactly the opposite is true.

Oscar Robles went to school in San Diego and I'm pretty sure he speaks English about as well as anyone else here.

AZ lost, 13-6 to Cincinnati.

They've now been outscored by 118 runs on the season.

And are still in contention and in better shape than the Dodgers.

253 - You'd think their luck would run out one of these days.

253 -

What are the numbers for the Dodgers, Padres and Giants?

If you were the Astros, would you want Adam Everett, Carlos Guillen, Julio Lugo, or Oscar Robles as your starting SS right now? Seems like their 3 SS prospects of the mid- to late- 90's are all better than their current choice. I sure hope that doesn't happen with our 2B prospects

Padres -28
Dodgers -68
Giants -83 (at this moment including the Giants 4-0 lead over St. Louis)
Colorado -145 (they are tied with the Cubs at this moment)

242 That was the foot massage scene

258 - Duh. I was thinking foot massage. I just didn't write foot massage.

There wasn't even any back massage scene, was there?

Keep hope alive!

Cardinals cut the Giants lead to 4-1 in the 8th.

The Cardinals have a AAA lineup today.

260 A bench of Pujols, Walker, Grudzielanek, Molina, and Luna before Edmonds was ejected is as good as our famed bench when Phillips, Izzy, and Repko start. Too bad Grudz is nowhere near the field, Pujols and Molina are getting days off, and I have no idea where Walker is

235. Izturis will finish the year batting .238, and will bat leadoff all year. There's no way Tracy moves him now. Tracy has made his bed and now he's gonna sleep in it.

This year really has been a waste because Choi/AP could have really upped their trade value at least if they were played everyday.

Izturis doenst have a future on the team. Neither does Robles. Neither does Valentin. Neither does Repko.

Its a shame really.

Cardinals get to 4-2 on a pinch single by Pujols but Benitez strikes out Taguchi for the final out and the Giants wn.

We're now in Bobby Thomson territory, by the way. I don't think we'll be breaking Oh's record again today.

I hope Steve isn't watching the A's-Royals game now.

It's a nightmare top of the 8th for Oakland.

Walk, error, HBP, and then Kotsay loses a ball in the sun that bounces over the fence for a double.

It's 3-2 Oakland, but 2nd and 3rd with no outs.

The Suns game is about to start with Billingsley starting for the Suns.

The Royals took the lead 4-3 on two productive outs!

Royals have a 4-3 lead in the 8th. Steve is not helping them...

Randy Johnson has now allowed 29 home runs. That's the most in the majors of any player not named Eric Milton.

Sergio Pedroza's Columbus Statistics: .213/.286/.504 with 27 Hits, 8 2Bs, 1 3B, and 9 HR

He also went 1 for 3 with a HR today. Including today's game, 18 of his 28 hits have been for extra bases. His problem is he needs to cut down on the strikeouts, 41 Ks in 127 ABs.

#266: There's a rain delay for the Suns. The game may end up being postponed as further storms are expected.

By the way, for those who want to read about the last time Edwin Jackson and Dontrelle Willis faced off:

http://jaxsuns.com/games/050303100455.shtml

272

Dontrelle made his major league debut 6 days later, and hasn't looked back since.

Let's hope Edwin can use tomorrow as a catapult toward success!

The Suns game just started.

The Suns lineup:

Donovan (CF)
Weber (RF)
LaRoche (3B)
Loney (1B)
Martin (C)
Meadows (LF)
Garcia (SS)
Gonzalez (2B)
Billingsley (P)

Guzman is sitting today. Adolfo Gonzalez was promoted to fill out the Suns roster while Abreu is injured.

Last night's losing pitcher Jon Weber doesn't even get a rest!

I hear that Weber doesn't pitch well when it's not a save situation either.

If Weber was as good as Ventura was, they could still be playingthat game. With his arm, Weber could make a convincing pitcher if he could find some control

The Royals have taken a 5-4 lead in the 12th. The A's fans are probably well on their way to assasinating Steve, likely using hitman Oscar Robles

Has anyone yet mentioned that Odalis Perez has cleared waivers? Looks like OP is the only player DePodesta tried to slip through, at least according to this:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2139110

My apologies if this was discussed many missed threads ago.

The Royals won to take the series from the A's

The A's and Dodgers now have another thing in common: Losing a series to the pathetic Royals at precisely the worst time.

I think Lowe was probably put on waivers, but no one was going to take his contract. Somebody might have wanted to take a flyer on Odalis if they needed a lefty in the rotation. But with Odalis injured, he'll be a Dodger for the rest of the year.

Supposedly, the Twins and Rangers are trying to work out a deal for Soriano.

David Ross starting for the Padres in Atlanta tonight!

These Suns broadcasts are funny. They just ran a commercial for an XXX toy store followed by a PSA for the PTA.

283 First pitch he whacked it to CF. The Braves got lucky that Jackson was held at 3rd with the pitcher up and 2 outs

Martin steals his 14th base

Smoltz looks very beatable. But the Padres have so many holes in their lineup, I'm not sure they will.

Todd Donovan is part of the Suns bullpen for tonight's game. I hope he gets to pitch!

Mississippi intentionally walks Weber to get to Andy LaRoche. Bad move.

2-run double. Stick it, Braves.

after billingsleys 7 inning shut out performance, all his peripherals look very excellent for me.

k rate over 10
bb rate under 3
hit rate is 7.63
hr rate under .75

oh yay, laroche 2 run rbi double over the left fielders head and rolls to the wall. billz is in line for the win.

The Suns start a four-game series with Montgomery tomorrow. I am sure Billingsley is really upset he is not going to get a piece of that action.

Bases loaded for Andruw, no outs. Pads in trouble

Andruw struck out, and Laroche grounded into a DP. I'm starting to really dislike the Braves...

Andy hits doubles
Adam hits double plays

For once we may actually have the better brother.

There isn't any chance Donovan is coming in to save it is there? That would be something, I'm sure

Suns win, game ends on a "defensive gem" DP by LaRoche

Anyone figure out why Ruggiano doesn't play more often? He's the Suns 4th OF, yet he's the only prospect. At 23, he's old but only a few months older than Young, and deserves playing time as he could eventually be a 4th/5th OF in the majors. He has a better chance than any of the 3 starters. But he continues to get the Choi treatment

Smoltz just doubled in McCann, who runs as fast as any catcher not named B Molina or Phillips

btw, the Ruggiano rant started when I learned his PH rally-commencing double was the reason the Suns won

ruggiano plays regulary.

him, meadows, donovan and weber rotate and such.

I am just back from the Fresno/Tacoma game. Fresno took an 8-0 lead but couldn't hold it; I can't wait to see the Fresno bullpen in San Francisco.

By the way, I think Eric should have to pay a fine for mentioning Bobby T. Jon has a policy against profanity and that name is either profane by itself or likely to incite a profane outburst by a Dodger Thoughts reader.

A few years ago I had Bobby autograph a book I have never read about the 1951 NL pennant race. He signed it: To Stan, With my very Best Wishes even though You're a Dodger Fan, Bobby T (I won't complete the last name.) It is one of my favorite pieces of baseball memorabilia. Actually Bobby seems like a very nice fellow, though he did a very bad thing.

Stan from Tacoma

I forgive Tony La Russa for having one of his relievers bat late in the game. Turns out that Grudzielanek wasn't available because he has been hospitalized overnight with a knee infection.

Walker and Pujols both pinch hit in the ninth.

299 I hadn't realized how often he's been starting recently, but he averages just over 2 ABs per game in Jacksonville. Did he rarely play when he was promoted?

Ruggiano has 120 PAs in 36 games for Jacksonville, or 3.33 per game.

Dodgers likely to fall six games behind the Padres.

San Diego leads Atlanta 2-1 going to the 8th.

Padres going for a season sweep of the Braves!

303 Ok, I'll just admit I have no idea what I'm talking about. I was using ABs and number of days in Jacksonville, which is obviously flawed.

304 So much for a game a week, we're losing a game this week assuming there's no come back. If they sweep, the Padres won both Astacio's and Park's game vs Atlanta, as well as Lawrence vs Smoltz

Since the Braves were able to score only one run against Brian Lawrence, they should take their uniforms altered and have "Dodgers" put on them.

"take" should be "have"

2nd and 3rd, no outs for Andruw. Assuming he walks, Laroche on deck

He grounded to Jackson, who bobbled the ball, run scored, no outs, 2nd and 1st, still no outs

Bob's reverse curse may have worked: 2-2 in Atlanta.

Laroche flies out deep, and Roberts threw to 3rd. He has such a week arm, there was no chance to get the runner at 3rd, and the runner moved to 2nd as well.

Guess what happens now: Francouer is being walked gasp

The streak is over:

Francouer is getting an intentional walk!

What was THAT!

Sweeney threw home on a grounder, except he threw to the wall, 2 runs score, 4-2 Braves

And Morgan has no idea how to pronounce Otsuka

Miller can pronounce Otsuka and so does Vin. But his name does have an unusual pronunciation for English speakers.

In Japan, his name was written out as Ohtsuka.

Why was Kyle Farnsworth trying to throw over to first with David Ross there? It's 6-2 Braves in the 9th.

Two thoughts: I haven't been here for weeks, (and only scanned the comments from 301 to 317) but I feel comfortable assuming there have been regular references to the Dodger injuries in that time.
Today (when it was announced Rolen is gone for the rest of the year), the Cards started two of the guys who were in the opening day lineup: Edmonds and Little Eck. Two! The Dodger DL, while impressive, does not stand alone. I think most of the current first-place squads in MLB could give it a run for the money...
As for the second, David Ross hit a John Smoltz fastball (though the location was optimal for Dave) for a stingin' base hit in the second inning (and the clueless third base coach held Jackson with the helpless pitcher comin' up!) and in his last at-bat
pulled what I think was a Farnsworth slider
(no replay, so I can't be sure) to Chipper, whose throw pulled Laroche off the bag. I'd have to see more, but maybe the folks who kept hoping against hope that there were adjustments he could make (or eyes fixed, as
I suggested once) were onto something. If so, I owe an apology, and a big one, 'cause absent an eyewear miracle (or dedication to sophisticated eye exercises), I didn't see the reflexes necessary to hit at the major level. Good luck to Dave, and to his legion...
Once again, in and out. Be well, Blue Gals and Blue Guys!

Just read the LAT story on the Kent-Bradley aftermath and I think it will be brushed over quickly. However, I still am trying to figure out the logic of the Choi/Saenz/Phillips platton from the Tracy point of view. The Perez situation is based on Tracy's view of defense, which few on this site will ever accept. But the situation at first base is pure stupidity. Everyone knows that Saenz needs lots of rest, everyone agrees on this Saenz & Tracy. Kent needs to be in the lineup and is not comfortable at first, both have also agreed on this point. Dionner is now the full time catcher but obviously needs occassional time off-everyone seems to agree on that. So Phillips role has been reduced & Tracy is trying to get him extra at bats at first-this obviously comes at the expense of Choi who is better at 1b on all accounts. Saenz and Choi should platoon since it makes sense and Phillips should spell Dionner as needed. If he complains and wants out sooner than next year he should be traded and bring up the double A catcher (can't remember his name) and see if he is ready to compete with Dionner. Most scouts think he is a can't miss prospect-there is nothing to lose...Does Phillips have pictures of Tracy?

319. I think many of us agree with what you said, you are pretty much preaching to the choir. The only reason we've come up with of late is that Phillips starts at first base so often is because he wears goggles and Choi doesn't have any facial hair or a cool sounding last name. In other words, there is no logic for what is happening at first base of late. vr, Xei

318 Agreed that other teams still in the hunt have suffered numerous injuries, in some cases very comparable to the Dodgers. What our injuries exposed is exactly what McCourt and DePodesta found when they took over -- there is a major gap in our prospect chain, there has been for many years, and it still affects the system to the depth of AAA. When St. Louis, Atlanta, Philadelphia or even San Diego needed to fill a hole, they had better options that we did.

Glass half-full: At least we aren't San Francisco or the Yankees, where the prospect chain is depressed as far as the eye can see. The Dodgers are in far better shape at the AA level and below. Some of that is Evans' good work, and some is DePodesta's. But til the AA guys are ready to be tried out in major league uniforms, the future history of the Dodgers will resemble this year and the last couple.

Xefrank,

Know I am preaching to the choir, but was hopeing that there might be some new piece of info explaning the stupidity..the post in 321 probably is as good a take on some of the reasons for this sub par 500 season. Imagine had we had a player like a Ryan Howard or a Jeff Francouer (sp) Hopefully by next year the recruits will be on the way and we can usher in a great decade of Dodger baseball.

The good part of that is, many of this year's AA guys should be ready for the major leagues next year, whether on the Opening Day roster or as midseason callups. This would include Jackson, Billingsley, Broxton (obviously), Guzman, Martin, Kuo, and Young. If we have injury problems next year we should be able to do the same kind of thing the Braves have done in 2005.

So the Dodgers should sign Brian Jordan and Raul Mondesi as stopgap measures too? ;-)